


Tangled (In the Wonderful Web You Weave)

by Kate_Viche



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010), Varian and the Seven Kingdoms
Genre: Angst, But most does not, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Fluff, Gaslighting, Gothel stole Varian AU, Hugo and Eugene are thieving bros, Hugo likes him but won't admit it, Hurt/Comfort, I mean its Gothel, It doesn't exist, M/M, Minor Swearing, Rapunzel and Varian were in the tower together AU, Siblings AU, Tags subject to change as I write, This is a Tangled rewrite, except I completely disregard canon, some of it does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29506080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kate_Viche/pseuds/Kate_Viche
Summary: Rapunzel only had one goal in life; protect her baby brother Varian. Except, sometimes the outside world decides you're going to be apart of it, whether you chose to be or not.When two thieves sneak into their tower after they break the one rule their mother gave them, siblings Rapunzel and Varian discover there's more to the world than they could have possibly imagined. And more to the two thieves who've decided the siblings are a new mystery to uncover.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Hugo (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Hugo/Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms)/Original Male Character(s), Rapunzel & Varian (Disney)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	Tangled (In the Wonderful Web You Weave)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! I should preface this by saying that though this is a Tangled movie re-write, it is very very different from the movie, so keep that in mind! Also, I'm making this up as I go, so... if there's continuity errors, that would be why.

Rapunzel distinctly remembers the day she first met her baby brother.

_ He was small; so incredibly, incredibly small. His cheeks were chubby and wet with tears, little button nose scrunched in dissatisfaction. Hair blacker than mother’s own hair, with a cute little blue stripe in it. His eyes looked up at Rapunzel, curious. _

_ “This is Varian,” Mother had said. “He’s going to be your brother.” _

_ At that moment, Rapunzel had decided she would always protect him. She would be there for him, to protect him from the evil in the world. She’d heal his scrapes with her singing, she’d wipe his tears when he was sad. She’d always be at his side. “I love you, Varian,” she had whispered, like the words were too precious to say any louder. Kissing his cheeks in a sloppy way only a child could, Varian giggled, and Rapunzel grinned happily, overjoyed at the sound. _

_ “He’s your responsibility, Rapunzel,” Mother said, collapsing into a chair after depositing the toddler into Rapunzel’s arms. “You’re his older sister, so you have to take care of him. Understand, Flower?” _

_ Rapunzel usually hated when Mother made her do chores or work, but this time, she didn’t mind. Not when Varian clasped his hands over her cheeks, babbling nonsense words. Rapunzel’s heart soared at his gummy smile, large front teeth shining through. “Yes, Mommy,” Rapunzel finally responded, remembering how Mother hated when she didn’t reply. _

Since then, Varian and Rapunzel had formed a bond stronger than steel. Being stuck in a tower with only two other people (one barely around) would do that to a person. They did everything together. Singing, dancing, baking, painting, reading, anything to keep boredom at bay. They were the most important people to each other. Always pushing the other to be the best they can be, cheering each other on.

Like in moments like this.

“Are you sure about this, Raps?” Varian asks hesitantly, skinny arms wrapped tight around her neck, legs around her torso in a firm grip as she tosses her hair over the climbing hook.

Rapunzel tosses a smile over her shoulder, hoping it would convince her baby brother of the determination she was very much not feeling. “Sure as I’ll ever be,” she says, holding up an arm so that Pascal, their best friend, could climb up it onto the climbing hook. Pascal chirps, a worried sort of sound. “C’mon, guys,” she finds herself saying. “If we don’t do this now, when will we?”

Varian bites his lip, before nodding and letting out a shaky breath. “No, you’re right.” His grip tightens. “I’m ready.”

Rapunzel herself inhales sharply. “Hold on tight, Varian,” she says, before leaping.

Gravity is a weird feeling. Varian’s grip on her is almost strangling, whimpering in her ear as wind whips and stings their faces. A scream of adrenaline tears past her throat, unexpected giggles shooting through her as they plummet to the ground at startling speed. She tugs on her hair just as they're about to crash, abruptly stopping their descent. Rapunzel can’t help but look at the bright green grass, just inches from her toes. “Oh my gosh, oh gosh,” Varian whispers in her ear, frame shaking against her back.

“Varian,” she whispers back, suddenly consumed by fear. “I’m scared.”

Varian exhales, shaky breaths warming her neck. “Me too,” he replies. “Together?”

Rapunzel nods, feeling her heart thumping loudly in her chest. “Together.”

The grass is cold and prickly and strange but oh so  _ wonderful _ . Her toes wiggle and move through the blades, giggles getting increasingly louder. She turns to Varian, seeing his bright, toothy smile, blue eyes wide in awe and delight. “We did it,” he breathes with a startled laugh.

“I know!” Rapunzel responds with a laugh of her own, rushing forward to clasp his hands together. 

“We did it!” 

“ _ I know! _ ”

Rapunzel gives him one last bright, sunny smile before releasing his hands and collapsing to the ground, spreading her fingers through the grass and dirt. “They feel just like we dreamed they’d be,” she says, awe-struck.

“I can’t believe I can actually study the flora around here now, I mean-” Varian’s words are amazed, beginning to trip over them in his excitement. “Mother gathers them for me but these are alive! They haven’t even been touched before!” A breeze rolls through her hair, and Rapunzel inhales as deep as she can, committing the smell of the trees and flowers and summer all at once in her mind. Suddenly, the rest of her hair comes tumbling around them and they give a shout, briefly having forgotten Pascal back up the tower who was supposed to untie her hair from the hook. 

The sound of rushing water reaches her ears, and Rapunzel turns to the side, catching sight of the stream they’ve always stared at but never got close to. Suddenly excited, she grabs Varian’s hand and pulls him to his feet, ignoring his confused shout and starts running forward. As soon as the water hits their feet, they both gasp. It's cold and sharp but it feels so freeing! Rapunzel closes her eyes, breathing in deeply to savour the feeling.

A wave of water splashes against her torso, and she gasps in surprise, eyes snapping open just to see Varian giggling, shoulders shaking in joy. A mischievous smile appears on her face, and she starts to bow down, saying, “O-hoh, I see how it is.”

Varian’s eyes snap to her, ceasing his laughter. “Wait, Raps no-”

“Too late!” she screams, splashing a large wave of water at him. He screeches, his hair now slick and wet, Rapunzel barking a laugh. Just as he opens his mouth to scream at her, she gasps, pointing behind him. “Varian,” she says, breathlessly, “Look!”

Confused, but trusting, Varian turns around before he too is gasping. “Oh my gosh,” Varian says in awe. “I always imagined what it’d look like, but…” A waterfall careens over the side of the ravine, the sound echoing off of the walls that protect the tower. In all their years, they had always fantasized what it looked like, only ever being able to hear it. Nothing could have prepared Rapunzel for the real thing. 

“It’s beautiful…” Not being able to help herself, she gets choked up.

Varian hums. “It’s a shame we can’t get closer...”

That sombers Rapunzel up. She slumps in on herself, suddenly recalling the deal they had made. They’d satiate their curiosity, and then they’d go back into the tower and forget this had ever happened, and certainly never tell Mother about it.

“You’re right…” she sighs, suddenly feeling a deep sadness. Running a hand over her arm, she tries to give Varian a big smile. It feels fake. “We’d better get back. Don’t want Mother finding us out here.” Varian tries to smile back, but it's weak and forced. Rapunzel feels marginally guilty about it. It’d been Varian’s idea to go outside just for a minute, but as his older sister, she should have put a stop to it. She should have said no, it was too dangerous, they couldn’t risk it. Yet she doesn’t regret being able to recite the feeling of grass between her toes, what the breeze smelt like. 

Rapunzel reaches forward and grabs Varian’s hand, trying to make him feel better. He squeezes back, his smile looking a little bit brighter. 

They end up making their way behind the tower, like they’d seen Mother do countless times before Rapunzel’s hair had gotten long enough to just pull her up. It takes a bit of poking around before they find a door obscured by vines. They move inside, taking care to make sure the vines look unbothered. 

That was that. They were back in their tower, stuck in a prison without a cage. Rapunzel is humming a nameless song as she sweeps an already crystal-clean floor, Varian pouring over his alchemy book for the thousandth time, tapping the pages absentmindedly. The atmosphere in the tower is thick in melancholy, stale air choking them to near tears. 

“It was a mistake,” Varian whispers, placing his book down to the side and tucking his chin into his knees. Rapunzel whirls around to him to sputter a rebuttal, but she’s suddenly stuck to the floor when she sees his heartbroken expression.

“Oh, Varian,” she cries, running forward to envelop him in a hug. He’s sobbing into her chest, head tucked carefully in her neck. “Shh, shh, it’s alright.” She continues to console him, hands running through his hair in an attempt to stop his shaking. 

“I’m- I’m sorry, Rapunzel,” Varian continues crying, fingers digging into the fabric of her dress. “We shouldn’t have done it, we shouldn’t have done it-”

“Hey, no, don’t say that,” she tuts, closing her eyes and thinning her lips to prevent her own tears from falling. She was the big sister here, and it was her job to console him, not the other way around. “If we hadn’t, we would’ve never known what grass smells like, or what a waterfall looks like. How could we ever regret knowing those wonderful things?”

Varian hiccups. “But- now I wanna know  _ more _ . I wanna know what a river looks like, what a sunset looks like. Now that I know we can go out there I don’t wanna be stuck in this tower anymore!”

Damn. Rapunzel had really screwed up. 

“I know, I know,” she repeats, holding him tighter. Varian’s sobs have quieted, but he still shakes and heaves. She’s always hated seeing him cry, because it feels like she’s failed him somehow. Like she’d messed up her one responsibility in life. “Who knows, maybe now that we’ve gone outside Mother will let us do it with her, too. When she can protect us.” They both know that’s not going to happen, but hope was the only thing they had in this life. This very sheltered, boring, isolated life. Hope was the one thing that kept them going, other than each other. Rapunzel sighs, pulling back. Varian gives one last hiccup before pulling back as well. Seeing his red eyes and tear-stained face breaks her heart. Brushing a finger over his cheeks, she attempts a smile. “How about we sing?”

Varian hesitates, then nods. “Okay.”

They make their way upstairs before collapsing into the bed, Varian tucked carefully in her arms, her hair making a blanket around them. Rapunzel rubs a hand over his back a few more times, before she takes a deep breath. “ _ Flower gleam and glow… _ ”

Glowing fills the room, her hair brightening starting from the roots and quickly making its way down. Varian smiles against her neck, closes his eyes and starts singing with her, “ _ Let your power shine.” _

_ “Make the clock reverse,”  _ they both sing, their soft voices filling the room.  _ “Bring back what once was mine.” _

“ _ Heal what has been hurt. _ ” Rapunzel begins to feel a weightlessness, her body feeling light and fuzzy like it always did when she sang.  _ “Change the fate’s design. _ ” Varian’s breath is soft, his voice just barely a whisper. “ _ Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine.”  _ Rapunzel smiles against the crown of his head, running her fingers through his hair again.  _ “What once was mine.” _

“Love you, Raps.” Varian’s voice is soft and sleepy, and if Rapunzel could see his face, she was sure his eyes would be closed.

“I love you too, Varian,” she whispers back, kissing his head. She continues to hum their lullabye, waiting until her brother is letting out a soft snore. Soon, the edges of her consciousness begin to fade and she drifts off to sleep.

-

Varian awakes to Pascal making a croaking sound, and after opening his eyes blearily, he recognizes the distant, “ _ Rapunzel! Let down your hair, sweetheart! _ ”

Fully awake now, he starts shaking Rapunzel. “Raps! Raps, wake up!” She comes to with a groan, blinking her eyes, disoriented. “Mother’s home!”

Rapunzel gasps, leaping off the bed and pin-balling off the walls in her haste to get downstairs. Varian laughs and follows after her, reaching her just in time to help her pull Mother up. They heave and tug, and not much longer after, Mother has appeared over the balcony. 

“Good evening, my darlings!” Mother says, opening her arms once she’s let go of Rapunzel’s hair. They quickly run into her waiting arms, and Varian breathes in the comforting smell of their Mother. “I hope you two didn’t nearly forget me down there, I was waiting for ages.”

They pull back, embarrassed. “Sorry, Mother,” Rapunzel apologizes, ducking her head. “We accidentally fell asleep.”

Mother raises an eyebrow. “I trust you two remembered to do your chores before you decided to laze off?”

Red floods his cheeks, recalling how he’d been so distraught Rapunzel decided for them to sing, which eventually led to them falling asleep. “Yes, of course, Mother,” he responds, but he can’t help but feel shame.

Mother hums, walking towards the mirror she always stopped at when she came home. She began to inspect her skin, pulling it this way and that. “Well, you know what they say,” Mother says, “Too much sleep can cause wrinkles! Wouldn’t want you to fade away in a mere two years!”

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Varian collapses into a chair, distractedly pulling at his pants. Mother was always saying things that were contradictory. Sleep causes wrinkles, but too little sleep makes eye-bags. You have to keep a good exercise regime, but not enough where you develop noticeable muscle. Well… she tried to make him develop muscle, but he was still too scrawny. 

… Don’t go outside the tower, even though it was beautiful and exciting…

Rapunzel notices his suddenly somber mood, and she quickly scoots up to Mother’s side. “Looking as lovely as ever, Mother!” she says, a bright smile forming on her face. Varian hopes she notices the smile he sends her way. She was always doing that; protecting him, or trying to make him feel better. She was the best person in the world.

Mother frowns. “Geez, Rapunzel, can’t you tell I’m beginning to form crows feet? Lying is never a good quality for a young woman to have.” Varian winces, watching as Rapunzel slumps in on herself.

“How about we all sing and brush Rapunzel’s hair?” he suggests, hoping it would get Mother’s attention off of his sister. This was… sadly a normal thing for the both of them. They’d always try to keep Mother from getting too annoyed at them, just barely keeping her happy and content. Once she’d start to get testy, then the other would quickly say something to take her attention off the other. It was sadly the only thing that made Mother… tolerable most days.

“What a wonderful idea, Varian,” Mother says, her once sour mood suddenly gone. Varian smiles hesitantly up at her, acutely aware that she’s never used a nickname for him before, unlike Rapunzel. It always seemed like Mother cared more about his sister than him, but Rapunzel tried to tell him otherwise. It never really helped, knowing how much positive attention Mother seemed to give her, and her ignoring him most days. She’d always preferred to just give him his alchemy stuff and let him tinker away in a room when she was home. It's how it always was. 

They gather in the middle of the tower, Mother and himself spread evenly over Rapunzel’s hair. Their voices combine, the soft glow of Rapunzel’s magical hair reflecting off their faces as they continue to sing, running a brush through it. Well, Rapunzel and himself sang. Mother never liked to join them.

Still, watching the soft smiles on both their faces, Mother’s expression carefully crafted in a delicate, fond look, Varian remembers why they stay in this tower. Yes, it may be difficult sometimes, but they had each other, and that’s all that mattered.

-

“You are the absolute worst.”

Hugo hates people. Wait, wait, no, that’s a lie. He likes how easy it is to  _ manipulate _ people. One pull of the eyebrows, one pout of the lips and he often could just snag what he wanted from unsuspecting fools with a simple sad expression. Corona had always been full of empathetic idiots. 

This is why Hugo absolutely hates Flynn Rider.

Flynn smiles at him, tapping his fingers over the table-top of the tavern they’re staying in. It's ridiculously annoying. “Eh, sometimes life throws a curveball your way; you’ve just gotta make the most of it.”

Hugo attempts to not seethe. It doesn’t work out very well. “You know, I’d call accidentally tripping and breaking your leg or a random petty thief stealing all your coin a curveball; not intentionally betting it all and losing!”

Flynn shrugs and Hugo debates the benefits of punching him in his stupid face. “Like I said, curveball. Besides, we’ll get it all back.” Giving Hugo a grin, he begins to twirl an ornate key around his finger.

Hugo stares. “You’re a prick.”

“Part of my charm.” Flynn winks at him, before standing to his feet and making his way out the door, the winner of their bet and current owner of all their coin getting plastered in the corner with his winnings. Hugo rolls his eyes and follows after him.

“Hey! You didn’t pay!”

Hugo waves a hand, not even glancing back. “Put it on Rider’s tab, Phil.”

By the time Hugo catches up with Rider, he’s checking out some horses and a caravan parked outside the tavern. One of the thugs who was supposed to be guarding it had long-ago passed out against a tree, droll dripping down his chin. Hugo sneers and tries not to feel too disgusted.

“C’mon, Glasses, help me with this,” Flynn said, straining with the effort to heave the thug’s valuables onto one of their horses.

Raising an eyebrow and rocking onto the tips of his toes, Hugo exhales heavily. “Oh, I dunno, Rider. You look like you’ve got it.”

Flynn gives him a look. “Pest,” he hisses, leading to Hugo snorting but eventually helping him put the valuables into bags and onto the horses. 

Just as they’re mounting the horses, the front of the tavern bursts open, jovial laughter following after. Before long, the thugs that have just exited spot them on the outskirts of the clearing and they start to shout. “Rider!” the thug that Flynn had lost to screams after them, raising a fist in the air.

“Sorry fellas, we’ve got things to attend to anywhere else!” Flynn laughs, rearing the horse they’ve just stolen and galloping off. 

Hugo’s grip on Flynn’s shoulders tighten, sacrificing his pride in favour of not falling off the horse. “Can you not antagonize every single person you meet?!” he screams over the racing speeds, the sound of other horses and thugs screaming not too far behind them.

“No can do, kiddo!” Flynn’s voice is light and chipper, his shoulders shaking under Hugo’s hands. “It’s who I am! You wouldn’t ask me to take away your glasses, would you?”

“You are the most  _ insufferable _ -” an arrow wizes past their ear, cutting him off with a ting of the air. Hugo whirls around, just in time to see a head of black hair and a white horse. Groaning, he taps Flynn on the shoulder. “The lovely Captain's daughter and her dog are just behind us.”

Flynn lets out a string of curses. “She can’t just give us one nice, relaxing day, can she?” A cry of, ‘ _ RIDER! _ ’ follows the sentence, and he can imagine the eye-roll Flynn is making. “Lovely.”

“You call falling into a river, stealing from a gang of thugs and getting chased by said thugs a relaxing day?” Hugo scoffs, letting out a yelp when Flynn makes a sudden quick turn. Huffing, he tightens his grip once more. “I hate to hear what you consider a vacation.”

They can hear both the thugs and the Captain’s daughter gaining on them, which makes Hugo purse his lips. Donella would kick his ass if he came back injured or stuck in jail again. “Can’t you get these guys off our tail?” 

“Of course I can,” Flynn scoffs, before whipping the reins of the horse, spurring it faster. 

Flynn guides the horse through bush and tree, easily weaving through the forest. They can hear the frustrated yells and shouts of their pursuers slowly getting farther and farther away, losing them through the bricket. Letting out an astonished laugh, Hugo begins to say, “Damn, Rider, who woulda known-”

The horse abruptly stops.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Hissing, Hugo slaps Flynn on the shoulder as the other dismounts the horse, tossing one of the bags over his shoulder. “Do you  _ want _ to get captured?”

“Aw, don’t you trust me, shortstack?” Flynn bats his eyelashes, giving a pout to him. “After all this time together?”

“No,” Hugo responds, deadpan. Still, he dismounts the horse and throws the other bag over his shoulder. “But, seeing as I don’t have much choice, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Flynn gasps. “You do care!” Hugo groans at that, Flynn just giving him a shit-eating grin before giving a pat to the horse, letting it gallop away and hopefully lead their pursuers elsewhere. “C’mon, kiddo.”

Deciding to not call Flynn out on the nicknames for now in spite of more important things, Hugo trails after Flynn. The clearing they’re in is small, large trees providing a canopy of shadows. There’s a large wall of stone that Flynn is carefully prodding. “There must be some sort of cave we can duck into, at least a small one-  _ whoa! _ ”

Hugo collapses in on himself, laughter shaking his form as Flynn groans in pain on the other side of the vine-wall that he’d just fallen through. He snorts, before right-ing himself again and brushing past the vines. “Very graceful, Rider. 10/10.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Flynn sighs, rising to his feet with an annoyed look on his face. “Laugh it up.”

“Oh, I am,” Hugo says smugly. They walk through the small opening, still bickering amongst themselves, before the sight that greets them quiets their banter. “That’s…” Hugo mumbles breathlessly. “A very big tower.”

Within the ravine that they’d just stumbled upon, a tower rests in the middle, vines and flora decorating the sides, brick just barely poking through. Purple shingles gleam from the mid-morning sunlight, a window open and just practically inviting them inside.

“Well,” Flynn says, already walking forwards. He produces four arrows from his person, tossing a grin over his shoulder. “Ready for a climb?”

Hugo squints. “How did you…?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Flynn responds flippantly. Hugo rolls his eyes but follows. 

Just as Flynn sticks both of the arrows into the brick, Hugo sputters. “You don’t honestly expect me to climb up like that, do you?”

Laughing, Flynn begins his ascent. “Aw, are you scared of heights?”

“I am  _ not- _ ”

“That sounds like excuses!” 

Hugo sighs, and glares at the man a few feet above him. “I hate you,” he sighs, before mimicking Flynn’s earlier actions and beginning to climb. Soon, the only sounds they can hear are the  _ clinks _ of the arrows into the tower, and their grunts as they pull themselves up. The weight of the stolen goods weighs Hugo down, but he pushes on. 

Just as he reaches the balcony, a hand reaches forward and obscures his vision. He looks up just to see Flynn looking down at him, a smirk on his face. Hugo gives him a stony glare, but he accepts the hand nonetheless. With a heave, Flynn pulls Hugo up the balcony and into the tower. 

“Nice job, Glasses,” Flynn says, placing his hands on his hips. “You didn’t fall to your death-”

  
A  _ clang  _ resounds through the air, Flynn making a pained face before he falls to the ground. Hugo shouts in surprise, just in time to catch the long- long,  _ long _ haired Blonde holding a frying pan before something hard meets his head and everything fades to black.


End file.
